Utah featured three 20-point scorers in its most recent contest and hopes to keep the offensive output at a high level when it takes on Washington in Seattle in a battle of former Pac-12 rivals on Monday night.
The Utes (8-4) have gone just 3-4 after winning their first five games but displayed signs of putting things together with a 101-77 rout of visiting Eastern Washington on Dec. 20.
“I think it was the best game for 40 minutes,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said of the performance. “We kind of controlled it and stayed in control and followed the game plan.”
The season-high point total included strong outings from Don McHenry (27 points, six 3-pointers), Keanu Dawes (21 points on 9-of-9 shooting) and Terrence Brown (20 points, career-high 11 assists).
It marks the first time three Utah players scored 20 or more points in the same game since Lorenzo Bonam (24), Devon Daniels (24) and Kyle Kuzma (22) all topped 20 during a 94-72 rout at Washington on Jan. 21, 2017.
Dawes’ shooting performance was the best by a Utah player since David Collette also went 9-for-9 during an 84-78 home win over UCLA on Feb. 22, 2018. Dawes’ scoring output also matched his career high.
“You gotta change your personality on the court,” Jensen said of Dawes. “Keanu’s a great kid, but again, we’re gonna continue to need more from him. But yeah, he made a jump.”
Dawes (11.8 points, team-best 9.2 rebounds) is third on the Utes in scoring behind Brown (21.5 ppg) and McHenry (19.2).
The Huskies (8-4) have won three of their past four games, including an 86-56 rout of San Diego in their most recent game on Dec. 22.
Standout freshman Hannes Steinbach recorded 21 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double in the nine games. He leads Washington in scoring (17.9) and rebounding (12.1).
“He gets double-doubles because he goes and rebounds,” Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle said. “He doesn’t wait for the rebound — he goes every time and makes the effort, where some guys don’t have the motor to go every time. He does. He just has a knack to know where the ball’s going and really use his body, his leverage, and he’s got great hands.”
The German has excelled despite a November ankle injury that eventually caused him to miss three games.
Wesley Yates III averages 14.9 points for Washington. Desmond Claude averages 14.0 and Zoom Diallo is at 13.8.
The Huskies and Utes split their two games in 2023-24, their final season as Pac-12 counterparts.
–Field Level Media
